Improbable not Impossible
by Ciscogirl
Summary: Astoria. Powerglide. By the very laws of nature one would think it beyond impossible. But then again, stranger things have happened...right? Chapter 6: Days Off. You'd think having some days off would be a good thing...
1. Her Fault

**Her Fault**

**A/N:** A drabble strictly from Powerglide's mood. Based on my favorite episode in G1 (or at least one of them). One final warning though, these drabbles are raw, as in no beta. I believe I'm still too new to fanfiction writing to qualify in asking another review simple drabbling. Enjoy.  
**Rating:** G  
**Summary:** Pointing the blame on others is a sign of immaturity…and denial. Obviously no one ever thought to tell Powerglide that.  
_**Disclaimers:** Transformers is the property of Hasbro and concept licensed through Takara Co. All original characters however are created by ciscogirl/ciscogoldengirl and protected by copyright laws. This work was created only for enjoyment, not with the goals of credit or monetary gain in any fashion._

He didn't understand her. And at times he didn't _want_ to understand her because if he tried to he was sure he'd just get even more confused then he already was. It was easier at times to simply go with the fact that it was all her fault. All of it, including the part where he kept coming back for more.

One of her favorite pastimes it seemed was to push him into an argument until the both of them were face to face, shouting at each other like enemies. And whenever he knelt so he could look her straight in the eyes he knew he was just letting himself open to an attack but he never cared by that point. She'd then give him a smile in that oh-so-innocent way of hers (like he really believed she was _that_ innocent) and then stand on tip-toe to kiss him right on an optic ridge. And with that one touch he always lost his train of thought, unable to form proper sentences, much less, audible words.

What was worse was that she always seemed to do it where a crowd was sure to form, some already knowing the outcome while others were simply curious about a 'bot arguing with a human female. It never ceased to amuse them to see such a tiny thing get the best over someone like Powerglide with his gung-ho attitude and dare devil stunts. The last time she had done that he had stumbled over his words so badly his vocal synthesizer had actually short circuited.

Later on First Aid had told Powerglide he had never seen Ratchet laugh so hard, and especially over a patient. Even Prowl had later commented with worry on the CMO's laughter…at least until he learned exactly why and then even he had been hard pressed to hold back a smirk at Powerglide's expense. It had taken everything in Powerglide to continue going into the common room with the others holding their throats as if unable to speak. Even now they still did that on occasion if there was nothing better to do.

Again, it was all her fault.

But then there were those other times where he'd just look down at her. Something in his spark would twitch like a bolt of static electricity and he couldn't think of a reason _why not_. Such instances would be followed by him suddenly diving at her, scooping her up and running to the nearest exit for some stunt flying, enjoying every shriek she emitted along the way. And if there were others who saw he didn't care because…because…

It was her fault! Every single, slagging emotion that made his spark twitch and his fuel pump beat just a bit quicker was all her fault!

Looking despondently at the black sky he sighed, happy for once that he had the midnight patrol. It gave him time to think and feel sorry for himself for having met such a glitch of a human.

He promised himself she'd pay for it on his next day off from duties. Preferably in a quick nose dive twenty thousand feet in the air.


	2. God Help the 'Bot

**God Help the 'Bot**

**Revision Notes:** _'Improbable Not Impossible' _got a face lift so to speak not only in spelling and grammar but in its overall status.  
**Summary: **Astoria. Powerglide. By the very laws of nature one would think it beyond impossible. But then again, stranger things have happened...right?  
**Chapter Notes:** YouTube is my friend. When I saw the episode which spawned this I noticed the old man who initially defended Astoria. Granted he was flung aside like a rag doll but still it was the thought that counted.  
**Chapter Rating: T**  
_**Disclaimers:**__ Transformers is the property of Hasbro and concept licensed through Takara Co. All original characters however are created by ciscogirl/ciscogoldengirl and protected by copyright laws. This work was created only for enjoyment, not with the goals of credit or monetary gain in any fashion._

The day she returned to them she was strangely giddy despite having been through what many considered to have been hell. She canceled every single party she had planned for the next year while simultaneously promoting dozens of hard working individuals. Despite the many promotions, (and the raises, oh the raises were making everybody delirious) it was the bit about the parties being _canceled_ which caused several board members to all but cry from joy.

That alone had caused them to break out a one hundred year old bottle of red wine (somebody had whispered it was actually _two_ hundred) when she had finally left them to go to her office at later that evening. She had given the excuse of wanting to be alone before leaving for home, saying she was still shaken up. Only Perry Harrison, the eldest on the board of directors, took note of the absence of the necklace and the fact that she looked far from shaken. If anything, she looked as if she were ready to leap into the sky and dance on thin air rather then try and recover from a traumatic experience.

So as the others had already been generously pouring out seconds (and in some cases, fourths) of the wine, Harrison had made his way through the building, up to Astoria's personal rooms. In all honesty they had been placed near the top floors not just because of her status in the company, but also to keep her out of the way period. When he had finally reached her office door, finely crafted out of solid oak, he had been braced for the worst. He hadn't bothered to knock but rather barreled through in the idiotic hope that by going fast, he'd shock Astoria out of whatever stupor she was it.

He hadn't expected himself to be in a stupor and as such it took him completely by surprise.

"Astoria…what _happened_?"

For the first time that day she lost the little grin she had been carrying around since she had first stepped out of the limo and into the crowds of the bloodthirsty media and her equally vicious board members. She looked rather small in her suddenly barren office room, the normally expensive furniture having been replaced with several comfortable leather chairs, a lamp, and a good solid desk. Gone were the ridiculous modern art pieces, the sculptures of things not even Picasso would have liked, as well as the hat rack that normally had the most fashionable hats for that week.

As for Astoria herself, she had scraps along her arms, her hair was still a tangled mess and her yellow sun dress had obviously seen better days. But she wasn't wearing any makeup and her smile was genuine, making Harrison realize she looked far better without the makeup.

"Do you really want to know?" Astoria asked quietly though it seemed like a shout in the office. Outside a night janitor was buffing the floor, singing the latest hit, and very poorly at that. And several floors down Harrison was positive the others were _still_ celebrating and would remain there until their wives would call, ordering them to drag their drunken selves home.

Astoria moved to the window and hugged herself, looking across the city's illuminated skyline. With the board she had been vague on many parts of the story while with the media she had said even less, diving back into the relative safety of the building before they could follow. And for a girl who loved attention, it had sent warning bells clanging around in Harrison's skull.

"If I see the daughter of my friend waltzing in from what should have been hell and smiling…you scared us all." He replied.

"You mean I scared you."

"Fine, you scared _me_." He replied, watching her closely. Even if he was a grouch and the first to complain over her parties and fits, he was also the only one to ever stay and help her understand exactly what was going on with her own company. The others frowned at this, preferring to keep her as lost as possible in reference to her own company. Besides, what would a spoiled brat know about running a successful multi-million dollar corporation?

"You know, I'm such an idiot it isn't even funny." Astoria muttered to which Harrison said nothing. She grinned cheekily, turning around to wink at him. "But I'm the only one who keeps all you old geezers on your toes. What would you all do without me?"

"Astoria."

"Fine," Dropping the bravado, she took in a breath as if preparing herself for battle. He wondered how true that metaphor was. "I threw away Daddy's formula."

"I'm old, not blind girl." he grumbled before moving to settle down in one of the leather chairs.

The girl frowned, or rather, pouted. "You could have fooled me. And weren't you the one always telling me never to let anyone touch it? It wasn't enough that Daddy made me promise but you had to every day…"

"Thank God I did."

"…but I threw it! I threw it and it exploded and it was like _so_ awesome because it didn't matter anymore!" she rambled, eyes sparkling and Harrison felt like a sledgehammer had plowed into his chest.

"You're in love."

She didn't even hide it. Not from him anyway, he knew enough that had somebody else accused her of such a thing she would have exploded in their faces. It was common knowledge that one of richest girls in America was single and happy with that fact. She always claimed it was because she had yet to meet anyone who wasn't a wimp.

"God help the boy."

"He's not a boy!"

"Yes, yes, whatever. God help the _man_." Donald had warned him about his daughter even when the child had only been **three**. He was sure the man was up on some cloud laughing it up at his friend's pain. Hell, he'd be willing to bet even Martha was also laughing it up with Donald over how their daughter was torturing him.

"He's not a man either."

"What? Then what the hell could…" he stopped his motion of leaping to his feet to argue with the little chit and landed back in the chair heavily. "A Decepticon?" _And here I was actually grateful to the Autobots._ _I never should have stopped at the National Guard. We got her too late. They brain washed her. _

"Of course not, they're all disgusting and have no taste whatsoever! Not to mention they don't know how to treat a girl." Sneering, Astoria flipped a bit of her hair of her shoulder contemptuously. Harrison almost missed the way she tensed her shoulders, almost. "I'm not an idiot Harrison. Machines and I don't get along but I'm not an idiot."

"Then who's the poor soul you've caught in your claws?"

"Oh now that's just harsh old man."

He shrugged loosely, trying to get his heart back to its normal rhythm. "The truth hurts. Now spit it out."

For the first time since her thirteenth birthday Harrison saw hesitation in her eyes. Slender hands fisted themselves into her already wrinkled dress and she kept looking anywhere but him.

"Are you mad if he's made of metal?" she asked in a tiny voice and his heart thawed just the slightest, much to his own disgust. Brat though she was, Astoria was a naïve girl with every person having forced her to living in a glorified playpen. She had all the makings of a truly cunning businesswoman and yet no one had even allowed her to truly get involved with the company's projects. What angered him the most was the fact that _he_ had been one the individuals to have kept her penned up for so long.

But Harrison would see that changed. If she had survived being abducted by Decepticons when so many hadn't been as lucky then there was a reason for it. And selfishly he wanted to have at least something making him look good when he finally croaked. Being a Catholic and then divorcing several times in thirty years certainly couldn't be very good for his records. _No wonder you became Methodist Donald. Less hassle._

"Was it for the right reasons?"

"Harrison?" he would have rolled his eyes had she not looked so damnably innocent with that light blush on her cheeks and her wide eyes.

"Was it for the right reasons?" he said between clenched teeth. Being the thoughtful, caring man wasn't his persona. He was a cold-hearted bastard of a businessman. And damn it he liked it that way! Only for Donald's kid would he make himself considerate of another's feelings. Besides that, she was the only one who knew what he wanted for Christmas and his birthday.

She didn't hesitate, her eyes glazed over in remembered fear and the determination she usually had when she wanted something done her way. "They would have **killed** him if I hadn't. He came back for me when he didn't have to."

_One of the Autobots. Not as bad as a Decepticon. Why couldn't it have been a politician's son or a drugged-up band member?_ Straightening in the chair he gazed at her coolly. Whoever the metal man was, he probably didn't even realize he was holding the poor girl's heart in his clumsy hands. _Well Donald, when your kid does something, she doesn't do it like anybody else, I have to give her that. Too bad she's like you in the ways of love though. _"If he tries anything I'm going to fry his circuits and have him reformatted as a toaster oven." Being an overprotective grump he could do. That was easier.

Snapping out her musings she scowled, "You wouldn't dare!"

Harrison eased out of the chair before it messed with his backbone any further. He made a note to have the girl switch the chairs for something proper with a firmer cushion. "I am your legal guardian. As such it gives me the sole right to position my foot up anyone's ass if they mess with you, even if that someone has a shiny metal ass."

Casually straightening he winced at the pops he heard. "But then again, any machine that can withstand you for extended periods of time is worthy of me at least letting them live without a boot mark to the ass." _Just don't remember the moment when one of those flying garbage cans knocked me on _my_ ass and that statement will look good._

Luck was on his side as she just rolled her eyes before biting her lip, becoming hesitant again. "So you don't mind?"

_About you and a walking tin can? Or about throwing away Donald's life work?_ Harrison mused. But to be fair he knew Donald wouldn't have been upset, in fact, Harrison seriously thought he would have backed his daughter completely; at least in reference to saving someone's life. Now the part about romantic thoughts over an alien life form he wasn't so sure what Donald would have thought.

Thinking for a moment, Harrison concluded he didn't even want to know what the man would have thought. Donald had always been an eccentric, overly protective father.

Walking over to her he gazed down at her and his smirk softened ever so slightly. "Just as long as you realize that I'm going to want to talk to this fellow and scare him witless." Inwardly though he couldn't help but rephrase he initial outburst. _God help the 'Bot. I don't think he realizes what he's in for with her._

"Harrison, you could scare the bogeyman with that mug of yours." Astoria shot back though her lips twitched slightly and that depressing look in her eyes vanished.

_Good, she isn't the kind of female who should frown. Astoria's anything but an angst-filled woman._ Smirking at her he straightened his hopelessly rumpled jacket. He hadn't changed since before Astoria's party. "Only if that bogeyman works for BlueSky Firm."

"Is business all you think about?"

"Only during my waking hours dear girl, only the waking hours. Seeing as how our Lady of the Chair won't do anything for the company I have to take the initiative."

It was then he saw it. A faint spark in her eyes that he had only seen in the eyes of her father. It sent a thrill racing down his throat before making her heart pump just a bit faster in excitement. Tilting her head to one side she grinned up at him. "Well, about that. What would you think about giving dear old BlueSky some friendly competition? We can't have them take over the skies you know. And I need some help understanding this business jargon you and the other old men keep spouting off."

_They'll be no more holding you back; even if we could I doubt you'd sit by quietly without putting up a hissy-fit. _Harrison mused before returning her grin with one of his own, though it was decidedly wicked, not just mischievous.

"I'm all ears my dear. I'm all ears."


	3. No chance

**No Chance**

**A/N**: My favorite characters are actually Bluestreak and Ratchet. So I really wanted to add at least one of them in with this chapter. Hopefully no one here will be acting to much OOC. Thanks again to everyone who reviewed/read/or both.  
**Rating**: PG  
**Summary**: Powerglide thinks that it won't work. Along comes Bluestreak and just tears that theory to shreds as only a chatty Datsun can…  
_**Disclaimers**: Transformers is the property of Hasbro and any canon characters included in this work are not mine. This piece was made only for enjoyment, not for credit or monetary goals._

As soon as the red and white Aerialbot leveled out from the barrel roll he twisted violently, heading back to Optimus. Whereas everyone else watched the spark-lifting sight of the retreating Decepticons, Powerglide only stared listlessly at the blue sky. While it had felt good to smash a fist through a Decepticon face the feeling lasted only so long and besides, sometimes the Decepticons got smart and dodged.

But now the idiots were gone and he still wanted to smash and make things explode until there wasn't anything else left to smash. It took everything in him not to turn around and chase the retreating Decepticons and thrash them into the dirt again.

He didn't say anything as Optimus ordered the Autobots to head back to the base but rather just slammed his thrusters so hard he punched through the clouds. His nose nearly perpendicular to the ground before he leveled out, high enough so that Silverbolt and the other Aerialbots couldn't bother him but still close to the entire group. If anyone tried to get him to talk he would only grumble or simply ignore them, depending on their rank. By the time the Ark came into view everyone was giving the usually boisterous Aerialbot a good amount of space and it came as little surprise when Optimus immediately put Powerglide on patrol.

"Bluestreak will be accompanying you Powerglide, stay close to each other. Even if Megatron left he could still try something." Optimus added just as Powerglide was veering off from the group entirely. Bluestreak gave a yelp of surprise from his place behind Sunstreaker before giving a long, drawn out sigh through his vents and pulling away from the group as well. "Roger that Optimus. Hey Powerglide wait up for me! Just because you can fly doesn't mean you can just barrel off like that…hey Powerglide wait up already!" the Datsun sped off after the red plane.

"Do you think he'll be alright Prime? Powerglide doesn't seem to be talkative right now. And Bluestreak, well…" Ratchet started before Sideswipe interrupted with a sickeningly cheery, "what he mean's is that Bluestreak's liable to talk his audios into malfunctioning." His brother and several others sniggered at the blunt truth before Prowl revved his engine in warning, cutting off further comments.

"Bluestreak will be able to help Powerglide out far better then any of us at this point. I'm sure of it." Optimus replied, looking in the direction of the two Autobots.

"For the motor-mouth's sake I hope so." Ratchet muttered quietly.

Many felt pity for Bluestreak but no one was willing to offer themselves in replace of the youngster. The only ones who didn't seem altogether worried were Optimus, Prowl, and perhaps Jazz. But then again with Jazz, he never seemed truly worried about anything that happened. In fact, before they had left for the battle that morning Jazz had been smiling slyly at Powerglide's back when Optimus was getting last minute tactical advice from Prowl. "Don't worry 'Glides, it'll work out. Just have some faith man." Jazz had told Powerglide, patting one of the Aerialbot's wings in comfort.

The Aerialbot's only response had been to stumble away quickly before transforming only to bolt into the skies as if the Megatron was on his tailfins. Thankfully for Powerglide, while Jazz was prone to relentlessly tease, he refused to say anything else on the matter to the others. Even with the promise of some of Sunstreaker's high-grade on the line.

Powerglide owed him big for having turned that offer down however.

Now with Powerglide having acted as he had during the battle, nearly every mech was wondering the same thing; 'What the slag is he worried about?'

Thankfully, Bluestreak kept shut until they were at least a mile away from the base, still within the central perimeters but away from the others. By that time they had both transformed into their robot forms, walking slowly amidst the scraggly trees. "Powerglide what's wrong? I've never seen you like this before; you made even Sunstreaker look gentle when you hit Thundercracker like that and I think even Megatron was bit shell shocked. Though," Bluestreak gave a nervous giggle, "that _was_ pretty cool seeing his mouth drop like that." Bluestreak forcibly stopped himself from saying too much but it was difficult.

"I just don't want to talk about it." Powerglide growled, trying to drop the matter. And for several minutes Bluestreak didn't say anything, leaving Powerglide to his thoughts. But it was only for several minutes before the words bubbled out of his mouth. "Why's that? Did something happen? Or did the Twins try and use you and the other minibots as a ball again? You should really tell Prowl if they're doing that…"

"It isn't that!" Powerglide snapped, looking up to glare at the larger 'bot. "It isn't that at all Bluestreak." He repeated, in a slightly more civil tone. "I just…I just figured out that something won't ever work."

"You mean you and Astoria right?"

Powerglide sputtered in equal parts anger and shock, optics wide while Bluestreak stopped, watching him curiously, his head tilted to one side. Finally Powerglide just whipped around, arms crossed angrily. "Who the slag told you something like that? She's just a little glitch of a human."

You didn't deny it. You didn't deny it, admit it lover 'bot. A tiny thought threaded out from his CPU and inwardly Powerglide flinched.

"Nobody told me but you seem to really like her. Did you two get into a fight or something? I'm sorry if you did, maybe you should go see her after the patrol 'cause she seems pretty nice. Well nice expect for making machines break, that's a bit scary." Bluestreak said before he shut his mouth with a metallic click.

"No we didn't get into a fight and I just helped her out to get at the Decepticons! Why does everybody think differently?" Powerglide shouted, arms dropping to his sides and his hands clenched tightly.

"Um, maybe it's because she kisses you, right on the optic ridge." Bluestreak pointed out quietly.

"But I don't want her to! And that happened only twice!" Powerglide complained before waving at Bluestreak. "Oh come on! This patrol isn't going to do itself you know." He grumbled.

It wasn't until they were ten miles along that Bluestreak spoke up again. By that time, the afternoon light was quickly giving way to dusk, the shadows stretching like black fingers across the ground. "But you seem to enjoy her kisses." At the moment, Bluestreak was pretty sure Prowl would be proud of the way the young gunner was forcibly keeping his normally rambling to a minimum.

Powerglide nearly nosedived into the ground but managed to catch his footing again before glaring at him. "What the slag do you mean by that?"

"Well don't you enjoy it when she kisses you? Powerglide?" he asked. "You seem to since you blush and can't really talk for a while and you look pretty happy whenever nobody's looking. I bet you even smile like Jazz but nobody can see it 'cause of the mask."

"Fine! I do, I like it when she kisses me! So shoot me if I enjoy a beautiful gal kissing me and **not** kissing Sunstreaker! But that doesn't mean anything!" the Aerialbot burst out before transforming and shooting past a rock formation. He seemed to ignore the fact that his underside was literally inches from the rock surface. If he thought that stunt meant an end to the conversation he was wrong as Bluestreak simply switched to the commlinks, also transforming to better keep up.

"We should stick closer together Powerglide. And with Astoria, you know you might think it doesn't mean something—and that's fine if you do—but I think it means something to her. I mean, she always asks about you if we see her in the city and that man who's always with her says he's never seen her so happy when you two are talking, even if it is while you two are fighting." Powerglide had to give the Datsun credit, the kid was stubborn enough to keep up a conversation. Not to mention that what Bluestreak had said made him slow down marginally, a sick feeling beginning to roll around in his tank and fuel pump.

_Just two more hours. Two stinking earth hours and then we can go home. But while we're here, there's no one else to hear it. No one._ He thought before spinning deftly around and flying to Bluestreak's side. "Is that true?" he asked quietly. It took everything in him to push his pride and say those words.

Bluestreak fish tailed for a second before stabilizing. "Huh? Oh, well…yeah! She really does like you. And you seem to be the only thing that doesn't go haywire when she's around. Sunstreaker pointed that out to everyone you know."

"I'm not surprised." Powerglide grumbled. "Bluestreak, what about the others? Do they, well, do they think this is sick?"

"Sick? What do you mean by that?"

For a moment Powerglide didn't say anything and Bluestreak almost asked the question again but the minibot cut him off. "Does anybody think this is unnatural? I mean she is an organic and if I well…if…that is…slag it!" he swore, unable to better voice his thoughts. "Forget what I said." he said, ready to cut the conversation off again.

"If you like her and she likes you why would that be unnatural? If you're worried about her being organic and all nobody really cares, just as long as she doesn't get close enough to them to make their systems go nuts. I think that's really the only reason why everyone gives her so much space. But she's alright I think." He paused before chuckling. "And the fact that she managed to make the Decepticons look like bolt heads definitely helped." Bluestreak added.

"But she's a human!" Powerglide shouted as if that were the reason for everything going wrong in his life. To a point, it did.

His shout caused Bluestreak to start, nearly swerving into some shrubs as he did so. "She'll only live for so long and then she's gone! Not even her body's left and then there's the fact that if someone like Starscream or even Megatron were to so much as backhand her she'd be hurt." _I'd never forgive myself if that happened to the glitch. _He thought, feeling utterly miserable. Everything was against this (if he even wanted to go through with it that is) from their very atoms up and whether or not he admitted it, it was ripping right through his chassis like a laser scalpel.

"Before Astoria, when was the last time you were happy? And I mean really happy." it was a strange, almost eerie thing to hear coming from Bluestreak, his tone oddly serious and almost bleak. "Think about it, really think about it."

And because he sounded so unlike his usual self, Powerglide did so.

For several minutes he could only think of the occasional victory but they had felt somewhat empty. Behind every victory had been the knowledge that the Decepticons would only come again and the process would repeat itself. There was the time when he first learned how to fly, back when his Creator had helped him leave the ground. That had been the only time he had been 'happy' but that gut-wrenching feeling of seeing the planet below so torn and empty had sucked the joy out of flying. But being truly happy?

_Nothing. Wait, that's not true…_

When he had seen Astoria, safe and sound on that flying base despite the Decepticons being there he hadn't felt happy, far from it in fact. Utter, total, relief that seemed to swamp every servo, relay and wire in his body until he was numb.

Then she had smiled at him, hugging him without a care and he had felt that relief change into nothing short of joy. The kind of feeling that made him think that he was flying without his feet leaving the ground.

"My life's gonna make a nova look simple." Powerglide muttered. "I probably should have left the little twerp with the Decepti-creeps. She's gonna make me lose a couple centuries." He dipped down to skim over the Datsun's roof. "Thanks Bluestreak. Now let's get the patrol over with."

"Why such the hurry now Powerglide?" the gunner asked, curious about his previous comments. Maybe he shouldn't have asked that question if it brought that kind of a result. But he had to ask the question, if only to make Powerglide realize just how lucky he was, so far from Cybertron.

"I'm gonna look someone up when I get into town." Powerglide replied his tone filled with something almost wicked. Very much similar to the time when Sideswipe had put adhesive on all of Wheeljack's equipment and had somehow gotten Swoop to cover for him.

_Uh oh._ Was all that came to Bluestreak's mind.

**A/N:** Rather long for a drabble I think but I like it. Enjoy.


	4. Natural

**Natural**

**A/N:** Title was actually a synonym for the word 'spontaneous', thank you Microsoft Office 2003. However I thought it would work better, considering everything else that's standing in the way. Sorry about the long wait but I was trying to string everything together into some kind of plot when I went back over my notes and realized something; this was never meant to be anything more than random plot bunny attacks. Random is good. Random is me.  
**Rating:** PG-13  
**Summary:** Natural is not just that of being organic. It is a state of being...like a zit on an otherwise perfect face. In other words, it makes things a bit more interesting for the audience.  
_**Disclaimers:** Transformers is the property of Hasbro and any canon characters included in this work are not mine. This piece was made only for enjoyment, not for credit or monetary goals._

Astoria's second abduction was far quieter then the first. In fact, Astoria didn't even know it herself until she was gently nudged awake with the smell of warm metal and grass all around her. Opening her eyes, she gapped at Powerglide looming over her, optics glowing in the darkness of the night. They narrowed in such a way she couldn't help but think he was smiling.

"Hi." He said almost sheepishly and it dawned on her that she was in his lap, his hands under her shoulders and legs.

"Powerglide, why am I outside?" she asked quietly before looking around and noticing that she couldn't even see anything man made, much less her bed. All she could come up with for her unusual state of calm was that she was in shock. Only shock would allow her to ignore the fact that Powerglide was seeing her in her favorite pajamas; the ones that were old and had little yellow stars.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"And you couldn't wait until morning?" she smiled back at him. A tiny flutter worked its way just behind her sternum at the thought that he _couldn't_ wait until morning.

"No, I just got off patrol. And then I had to get here. Then you weren't at the company..."

"Alright, alright I get it!" she giggled at him, waving her hands in defeat. "So...like what do you want to talk about then?"

"Well...us; I wanna talk about us." his optics flickered and she heard him 'inhale' air through vents she couldn't see. "Yeah. Us." He shifted and she slid closer against him.

"Well?" Folding her arms across her middle she tried to ignore how sweaty her palms were and that nothing was wrong. That an alien from another planet holding her like a baby was a normal experience and that it was nothing to worry about.

"Keep your wings in place, I'm gettin' to it." He snapped but it didn't have any real bite to it so Astoria only shrugged.

"I just hope you spit it out before I turn all wrinkly and senile."

It was the wrong thing to say apparently. The moment those words left her mouth he tensed; every joint stiffened and the comforting sounds of his internals seemed to all but stop.

"What did I say?" she asked, confused.

"That's right. You will die one day won't you?" Powerglide murmured, almost to himself.

"Well yeah, but not like right now. Not this instant anyway. And I didn't exactly say 'die'."

He shook his head slightly. "But you **will** die and to me it'll seem like an instant." His tone reminded Astoria more of a child then a powerful, nearly immortal being.

"I'm not dead yet am I?" she asked.

"You don't..."

"Haven't you even heard of the saying 'It is better to have loved and lost, then never having loved at all.' Powerglide? I think Harrison told that to me one time." She didn't add that Harrison had finished the divorce papers with his third wife when he had said it. She didn't think it would have been helpful and besides, the moment she had said 'love', Powerglide's internal sounds seemed to speed up a bit.

"What does that have to do with anything here? I'm trying to get it through your skull that you'll grow and I won't." he grumbled while his hands twitched, holding her just a bit tighter. But she didn't mind, not a bit. As subtly as she could Astoria snuggled just little closer in his grasp.

"Oh you'll grow alright. At least I hope so, you have to be the most immature person, er, robot I know which is saying something. And besides...you came back."

He gave a snort while his optics narrowed. "Of course I came back for you, you little glitch. What kind of Autobot would I be if I left somebody to those slag heaps?"

"So...you would have done that for anyone?" That flutter became a lead weight, sinking into her belly with an unpleasant feeling.

He paused in his ranting and stared at her in shock. She counted the seconds from her thudding heart while she listened to his 'breathing'. It was a comforting 'whoosh, swoosh' sound that matched the humming emitting from deep inside him.

"I wouldn't have done it the same way for anyone else." He finally answered carefully. Something inside her cracked and flew at the same time. Obviously Powerglide noticed because his optics noticeably darkened.

_Ahhh...he's blushing._ Astoria didn't dare snicker otherwise whatever was happening might simple break apart. Instead she reached up and touched his mask, fingers moving upwards lightly to trace one optic before tracing the other.

"Astoria? Wh-what are ya doing?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't seem like nothing." His voice was a faint whisper as his fingers twitched around her waist.

"So was this the only reason why you came? To grouse over the fact that I'll die before you? Please. Come on 'Glides, its only natural for humans to kick the bucket one day." Astoria drawled with a grin.

His optics narrowed, or rather, seemed to scrunch a bit in confusion. " 'Glides'?"

"You're interrupting me. Shush." In reality she had the feeling that if she didn't say it now she'd probably never would. He wasn't the only one blushing at the moment.

"Yes ma'am."

She ignored the comment, regulating his response to something Harrison would have called 'a wise-ass yes'. "What I was trying to say is that this is natural. Just 'cause I'll die doesn't mean it'll be meaningless. I loved my Father. I still do, but he's dead. How do you think I feel about this anyway? Like, I have a giant robot holding me like a teddy bear for crying out loud!" she bit her lip before going on quickly. "But, like, the only thing I'm feelin' is that it isn't bad. It feels right. You know?"

"Right? Astoria if you haven't guessed I'm metal. You're organic. Some things just...well...they just won't..._Primus_." His optics, surprisingly, darkened even more and he looked away, shifting nervously as he did so. "What I mean to say…"

"Plug A can't fit into Slot B?" Astoria smirked wickedly up at him. She only hoped he didn't see just how red she was about saying it. Was there a medical term for a permanent blush?

Sputtering, Powerglide's optics turned back to her, widening in shock. "Astoria!"

"What? You were thinking it." _You __**had**__ to have been thinking it._

"But...but... that's not the point!"

She snorted, before shifting in his grasp to move to where she could be almost eye-to-optic with him. "For an alien, you don't know much do ya?" she giggled, feeling a weird mix of glee and embarrassment in her chest as she let her fingers run over his optic ridge again. This time she could almost feel the metal beneath give a slight quake. Powerglide's optics turned a slightly different shade of the deep azure, shifting to an indigo and there was something about that shift that made Astoria want to curl her toes. Her fingers skimmed down the part of the mask where his mouth would have been. She tapped the metal playfully, if only to hear the light clink it made against her fingernails." Can't you take that thing off or is it permanent?"

Evidently he hadn't been expecting that question, his startled jerk almost sent Astoria into another fit of giggles. "Why...? Astoria what...?"

"Love isn't about being predictable. Like I know I don't know much about a lot of things but I do know that love just doesn't go the way you want it too. It's just so crazy. It can hit you like a ton of bricks and the most you can do is like just surrender." She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "So what if you're metal. So what if I'm a pile of flesh. Mind you, I think I'm the cutest pile of flesh around here. But still, so what if we're so different? So…I'm asking again; can you take that off?"

Was he trembling or was it just her frazzled mind playing tricks on her? It had to have been her mind playing tricks on her because this couldn't be real. The fact that his optics darkened even further also had to be a trick of the darkness. And his fingers where moving slightly around her waist. That _had_ to be a trick of her mind. But then if it was then she would happily let her mind do all it wanted.

"There's a manual switch, just under the throat." Powerglide mumbled before shifting a bit so one of his hands wrapped around her waist so he could use his other hand. Fingers that were similar but completely different to her own came up and wrapped around her own hand, guiding her down from the mask itself to his throat. The metal was so warm from the energy and circuitry residing just underneath. Her fingers followed his lead before she felt a switch right behind a small niche of metal, it wasn't made for human hands but she managed to push it finally. She heard a click and gasped when the mask split in two, folds of it reverting back until the mask had vanished somewhere just where a human's ears might have been.

_Now why in the world would you want to hide something like that?_ She mused through the shock. "Hi." The word came out as nothing more than a tiny squeak and she felt her ears burn at the sound.

"Hi." Powerglide looked similar to the other mechs she had seen but when he smiled she was certain her heart was flipping around in her rib cage. Without the mask, his voice seemed clearer, his strangely sounding northeastern twang resounding in the night air.

"So that's what you've been hiding. Not too bad." Astoria commented, hoping to save some of her face though from the way Powerglide cocked an eyebrow, she doubted it was working.

"Not too bad? I'll have you know I've had femmes flock to me just to get a glimpse of this!"

"Right. Like I believe that." she giggled as he frowned. Without his mask it dawned on her just how expressive his optics really were. "I bet they were all over that one guy, the golden one."

"Sunstreaker? He couldn't keep a femme if he tried." Powerglide groused. "He's better off going on a date with any kind of reflective surface."

"One of those? I thought only humans had that problem." Astoria replied before looking at him seriously. Even if he had opened up to her both emotionally and physically, she had a feeling he was still thinking about the differences in their life spans. "Look, Powerglide, the reason why I'm not so upset is probably cause I'm being selfish. And don't say a single word until I'm done." She glared at him while he gave her his best innocent look. Taking a deep breath she went on.

"What I'm saying is that when I die, you'll still be around, it won't hurt as much. And when we die, don't we all kind of come together at the end? I mean, you all must have a soul or something."

Powerglide smiled gently. "Its called a spark." His fingers _were_ moving around her waist. She yelped a bit he gave her a tiny squeeze. His smile widened into something just a bit more devious but she ignored it. Tried to anyway.

"Sparks? Nifty name." _I'm starting to ramble. Oh this is bad, I am rambling._ "But if you have a spark then I'll see you again one day. You're trying to come up with excuses now and I can't stand that."

"Astoria…" his voice seemed more like a rumbling engine now though it was no where near as deafening. One finger slipped just enough so it touched the skin of her waist and it was all she could do not to bite her tongue at the contact.

"No! I know you're just going to come up with something else and I so don't want to hear it." _Stop. Rambling. Now!_ "I love you and if you think you spouting about ages is gonna change what I feel then you've got oil clogged somewhere in your head!"

When her father had been alive, he had told her stories about the giants of Ireland. Some of them had been wonderful stories filled with adventure and romance while others had made her want to hide under her sheets. She had always wondered how a giant could kiss an ordinary woman and had even thought that it would be hard to do, if not impossible.

It wasn't hard. It wasn't impossible.

It was heaven.


	5. Stunt

**Stunt**

**Thank you! **Thank you to everyone who reviewed this pile of drabbles and loose thoughts. I've never properly thanked everyone so again, thank you and please keep reviewing as it's always a great pleasure to see what people thought of this. Enjoy!

**A/N:** Love it. Hate it. Just ignore the cyber-dust coating this thing. I dredged it up from the flash drive I had that also contained all of my notes for the spring semester…hmmm. As if I'd ever do anything but review during my computer classes while the teacher goes on about his time in Costa Rica? Has not seen a beta and will most like be redone in the future…I hope.  
**Rating:** G (No. No smut…yet…good boys and girls might if they behave.)  
**Summary:** Powerglide learns several things; the least of which is that Starscream _can_ hit a target when he isn't screeching his head off. The other is that even a mech should listen to their 'gut' when it comes to females.  
_**Disclaimers:**__ Transformers is the property of Hasbro and concept licensed through Takara Co. All original characters however are created by ciscogirl/ciscogoldengirl and protected by copyright laws. This work was created only for enjoyment, not with the goals of credit or monetary gain in any fashion._

"Idiot! You slagging bolt head! Were your logic wires rewired when I wasn't looking, or do you really have a death wish?" Ratchet snarled; hands embedded somewhere in Powerglide's upper back. He wasn't looking forward to when Ratchet would have to start on his right leg which had been mangled during a mid-air transformation. Starscream had sent a missile right into it, leaving only shrapnel and wires where a knee and lower leg should have been. Not the most pleasant of feelings to be sure and at the moment he was thankful First Aid had managed to get in before Ratchet, numbing the wires with powerful sedative programs. He highly doubted Ratchet would be anything but merciful at this point.

"Ah come on Ratchet, we won didn't we?" Slingshot asked from his place on the floor, one hand gingerly rubbing an ugly scorch mark on his side near a primary intake vent. Breakdown had gotten a lucky shot in when the Decepticons had retreated and while it was just a graze it was still painful enough to warrant a trip to the med bay. Beside Slingshot sat Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, also waiting for repairs as First Aid was off on the opposite side of the bay with an angry—but still mostly whole—Ironhide. Had it been any other place but the med bay Powerglide was certain the seating arrangements would be far different; especially with the way Sunstreaker looked ready to rip something apart. Both brothers sported an array of dents and scratches, including a sizable dent in Sideswipe's helm, compliments of Thundercraker's fists when the red twin had tried his jet-judo on the seeker. It was clear Thundercracker was developing moves of his own to combat the twins' unpredictable method of dealing with flying Decepticons.

Ratchet's response to Slingshot's question was to simply tighten a wire in Powerglide's back, sending a surge of pain down the flier's spinal network, despite the sedative programs doing their job. It was a little known fact that those with flying alt-modes usually sported anywhere from twenty to thirty-five percent more nerve relays then the average 'bot in their back and neck.

Evidently Ratchet was bound and determined to use this bit of knowledge as a means to relate just how much he disapproved of stunts which included intentionally getting hit by enemy fire. In fact this method of punishment/torture was known to all as 'inside slag-slapped' and as a general rule, only the brashest of the flying Autobots received the treatment of being poked, prodded, and slapped on their overly-sensitive relays. It was rumored that those with door panel wings could be subjected to such treatment but as of yet those rumors were only just that; rumors. And it wasn't as if Prowl would reveal anything about that and Bluestreak was simply too afraid of Ratchet to try anything the CMO would consider punishable with such methods.

Powerglide knew the value of silence at this point and kept in his yelp, instead shooting a nasty look at Slingshot until the aerialbot smiled somewhat sheepishly at his fellow minibot. Aside from perhap Powerglide and Blades Sideswipe snickered while his brother just quirked his lips in a nasty smirk while Powerglide reverted to that age old process of counting the astro-seconds between each new surge of pain.

"Win, yes. I doubt however Powerglide will **ever** pull that stunt again with Starscream. Or any other Deceptigoon for that matter" Ratchet growled. His sentence was marked with another jolt to the main bundle of wires leading to Powerglide's left wing this time. And again, Powerglide kept in his yelp, but only just as his body gave an involuntary spasm. Ratchet gave a rather nasty chuckle, revealing just how mad the CMO was with him. Normally the mech was averse to inflicting pain (unless it was the twins) on any creature save when he felt they were stupid enough to merit it.

"Yeah Ratchet, I learned my lesson. No more Power Barrel Rolls." He obediently recited. He almost cringed when he felt Ratchet's hands stop however all that came was an incredulous snort (Ratchet had become a lover of the many sounds humans made when dealing with something stupid, troublesome, or a combination of the two).

"Is that what you call that spark-killing stunt of yours?" Ratchet asked.

Before Powerglide could respond in defense of his (in his humble opinion) amazing stunt, Slingshot cut in with a grin. "Oh yeah, Jazz came up with the name after Powerglide did the nosedive into the ground! Still need to work on the landings though Powerglide."

"Still need to work on the name." Sunstreaker commented. "I think it's what the humans would call 'cheesy'."

"Still need to work on nothing! The slagger won't be doing whatever the slag you call that stunt. Ever. Again!" Ratchet bellowed, silencing everyone effectively, even Powerglide's stumbling defense against Sunstreaker over the name.

_It wasn't cheesy!_ The thought derailed itself in favor of a far more important one._ I didn't think I had a relay there…I'm gonna feel that for a while._ Powerglide mused, optics closed as he held tightly to the edges of the berth. It wasn't so much as pain as it was just uncomfortable feeling a pair of hands expertly tapping on relays so they would twinge involuntarily. "Come on Ratchet, give a 'bot some slack here." He griped.

Inwardly though, he couldn't help but smirk at the memory of Starscream tumbling to the ground with his right wing completely shorn off. That would be the last time he'd ever make fun of the 'red Autobot pipsqueak' when the both of them were locked in a dive. Powerglide also knew he'd do a repeat of the stunt if given the opportunity, whether or not Ratchet approved.

He'd just have to work on the landings. He liked the name though; it had a good ring to it.

"Hey Powerglide." Turning to Sideswipe, he opened one optic, quirking an eye ridge at the downright malicious grin the larger 'bot wore. Nothing good ever came from that grin, nothing. Ratchet just continued working, pulling a frayed wire end out a bit more gently then before, but not by much as a finger 'accidentally' touched a nerve relay, tapping it.

"Yeah?" Powerglide managed, he was glad for the small things in life, such as the fact that he still had on his face mask. If nothing else no one could see him wince every time Ratchet did that.

Sideswipe jerked his head to the med bay door just beyond Powerglide's sight. "You've got yourself a visitor, a _pretty_ one."

_Oh no. _He ignored the others snickering.

_Not now._

He couldn't turn his head far enough to see the doors and quite frankly he didn't want to. No…bad things would happen if he did.

"Powerglide?"

_That's it, the next time I see a missile I'm __**not**__ getting out of the way._

"What are you doing here?" he asked, panicked. Powerglide heard the petite tip-taps of heels hitting the floor, hesitant. Sunstreaker gave up being annoyed with Powerglide in favor of laughing with his brother, quietly though. They didn't want to interrupt the show but Powerglide wasn't paying attention to how quiet they were trying to be.

_Since when has she been hesitant? This is the brat after all._ Powerglide thought, finally registering the fact that her normally loud and bossy tone was gone, leaving behind something soft and frail.

"I saw the battle on the news and ran into Spike and Bumblebee on the way here. They offered a ride." She stopped, still out of his sight, her voice soft and frightened even.

_Astoria's never seen me like this…ripped open like a dissected retro rat. _The thought hit him like a Dinobot tail lash. To an organic, if one had such injuries it usually meant years of rehabilitation, amputation of the mangled limb, or even death. He fought the sudden urge to bark at her to shut her eyes and run out of the med bay.

"Aren't you the chick that makes machines break?" Slingshot asked, looking at her suspiciously. Powerglide winced, getting ready for the verbal explosion Astoria would throw at the aerialbot. It never came.

"Yeah, I'm that 'chick'." Astoria mumbled, not even bothering to look at Slingshot.

"You're not gonna start doing that now are you? 'Cause if you are then I don't want you anywhere near me." he pressed, wary. Beside him the twins just snickered. _I'm gonna knock him all the way back to Cybertron!_ Powerglide bellowed inwardly. Missiles, fire, guns, maybe even the odd stink bomb or two in the aerialbot's berth when he least expected it.

"Don't move." Ratchet quietly rumbled, his hands suddenly pressing him down to the berth, causing the minibot to realize just how close he had been to tackling Slingshot, no leg or not.

"Ignore the idiot Astoria. He never says anything worth listening to." Powerglide snarled, glaring at said idiot. If he couldn't tackle him then insults would work just as well for the time being.

"Say that again you smelt-smelling slagface!"

"Quiet. There's a lady here Slingshot." Sideswipe cut in, grinning at Powerglide. For his part, Powerglide didn't know whether to thank him or ram a pipe up his aft for the sly wink he sent right after those words.

"Sorry about that little lady but we don't get much in the way of pretty visitors." Sideswipe went on while his brother just rolled his optics to the ceiling.

"I've heard worse so its alright." came the soft reply.

"Really? Has Powerglide talked to you like that?" Sideswipe frowned at Powerglide. "That's no way to treat a lady Powerglide, especially you're…"

Powerglide cut him off with an outburst of Cybertronian cursing which crudely translated to "go kiss Megatron's aft." Slingshot howled with laughter while Sunstreaker quirked an eye ridge in admiration at the colorful wording.

Sideswipe's grin just turned crooked. "Why don't you say that in English now?" he asked sweetly.

The footsteps began again until he finally saw her directly in front of the berth, gazing up at him, lips pursed in concern. She looked more then a bit frazzled, wearing a thick yellow raincoat zipped up to her chin.

Something in his fuel pump thumped sickly when he saw her tired face and red eyes.

"How long have you been up? You look tired." He asked quietly. She took in a sudden breath, almost as if she had taken a punch to the gut before she jammed her palms to her eyes, sobbing.

_I have an unconscious desire for pain. That has to be it._ Powerglide mused in shock, noticing the other 'bots grew rigid, optics wide. The small aerialbot looked ready to bolt for the nearest exit, whether or not he was wounded.

"Hey, hey make her stop! Powerglide! Make her stop!" Slingshot all but wailed.

"Nice going, you just had to make her cry didn't you?" Ratchet muttered, twisting two wires together before sealing them with an arc welder Powerglide couldn't see but heard and felt.

"I didn't do anything!" Powerglide said, panicked.

"Do something! She's getting on my nerves." Sunstreaker sneered before glaring at his brother who had elbowed him. "What was that for?"

"Astoria? Astoria what's wrong?" Powerglide asked, desperate to make her stop. Each sob felt as if a Decepticon were hitting him with a sledgehammer.

"You…you _idiot_! What kind of stunt was that?"

"Huh?"

Wrenching her hands from her eyes she glared at him and it was enough to make him cringe when even the work of an angry CMO had only made him clench his dental plates. "Don't you dare 'huh' me! One moment I'm getting ready for a business meeting and the next I look on the news 'cause there's a battle by a power plant. And I see **you** tail spinning out of the sky with smoke coming out and everybody screaming your name!" furiously she scrubbed the tears away but they just kept coming, leaking from her eyes and staining her cheeks. "So I cancel the meeting; Harrison has yet to speak to me for that mind you, and I probably just about broke the speed limit twice over before Bumblebee and Spike came alongside and offered a lift. Thank goodness for that because I can't drive in rain very well! And you ask me if I'm tired? When…when you look…look like…" she licked her lips, face scrunched as she tried to come up with a good metaphor to his appearance.

"Like he escaped a compactor?" Sideswipe added helpfully, smiling. Somewhere behind the shock, Powerglide imagined how many ways he could divert enemy fire to Sideswipe in the next battle. Nothing too major but just so the Lamborghini could be hit in places filled with sensitive nerve relays.

Astoria nodded and glared at Powerglide until he scrunched as much as Ratchet would allow. "Yes! Like you escaped a compactor! You've got some nerve you know that?"

"It was to trick those Decepti-creeps Astoria. And it worked! Didn't ya see those Seekers?" Oh that had been a beautiful moment, twisting away at the last moment and swooping up like hawk. In fact he had seen the move from a hawk and he had wanted for the longest time to try it out. The only bad part had been not taking into consideration that Starscream might actually be able to hit something while in free fall.

That had been the only downside to the entire trick.

"Yeah…yeah I saw them alright but I wasn't really paying attention to them! I was just looking at you when you hit the ground and…oh!" she couldn't finish her words and instead crossed her arms, hugging herself. For a moment she was like that, shivering almost uncontrollably before finally looking back at him, still crying. "You don't even realize I…" she stopped herself again, her cheeks turning bright red before she whipped around and ran out of the room.

Or would have; Powerglide lunged halfway off the berth, one arm reaching for her while he held onto the edge of the berth with the other. When she had hugged herself his shock had finally worn off and in its place was the mantra of _'Don't let her run! Don't let her run!'_. Something in his CPU was screaming that having her run before he could clear things up would be a horrible, terrible thing. Perhaps this was what Sparkplug went on and on about 'gut feelings'. Whatever the reasoning, he had to make those tears go away and she looked so tired that she'd probably collapse somewhere in the Ark before someone would bring her back. And had she even told anyone where she was going before she left?

_You little glitch, you'd keel over if someone weren't watching you 24/7._ He thought as his hand easily wrapped around her waist. Even if he was a minibot picking up a human with just one hand was similar to picking up a pillow.

He faintly heard something in his back snap with a metallic 'ping' while several wires sparked all along his back and leg. Ratchet swore, dragging Powerglide back onto the berth with a scrap of steel on alloy. "If I didn't know any better I'd say the only thing you fliers have in your heads is air!" he snapped, quickly stabilizing a relay in his back that had come out of alignment.

"Put me down, now you overgrown tin can!" Astoria hollered, her fists ineffectively banging on his fingers.

"No."

"Let go! This is humiliating!"

"I ain't lettin' you go just so you can run away." Powerglide muttered. "Besides, since when have _you_ ever run away?" he accused, causing her struggles to end abruptly. For several minutes she only looked at her hands wrapped tightly around his fingers, her face pale. _You glitch, like I'd ever drop you._ He grumbled before putting her on the berth between his head and protruding wing joint.

"Sit."

"Like who made…"

"Shut up and sit!" he snapped before hearing her huff but nonetheless comply. The warmth her tiny body emitted felt good against his metal and he ignored the curious looks he was getting from the others. He knew if he turned his attentions to them he'd regret it. "Now, sit here and I'm gonna tell you all about it."

"I saw enough of it on the news…" she began but he cut her off.

"But not from my side, you always go on about flying right? So I'm gonna tell you about flying."

And he did.

He told her about the beginning when they heard Teltran 1's alert, the feeling of excitement that had rushed through his fuel pump when Prime had included him in the battle group. He went on to how he and the aerialbots had gone ahead and found the seekers, taking them all on in mismatched dogfights.

Normally, Powerglide didn't consider himself to be a storyteller but with Astoria there the words just seemed to leap out of his vocalizer and by the time he had finished telling her about the second nosedive with Skywarp, he had felt Astoria lean tentatively against his head, following every single word. When he reached the part about sheering off Starscream's wing she gasped. It was a tiny sound that only he, and possibly Ratchet, could hear and it made his spark twitch. Her tiny body gave off so much heat that it seemed to numb the pain whenever Ratchet would snap a frayed wire or yank out another bit of shrapnel.

"You can stop now…"

"Huh?" he replied to Sideswipe. The twin just smiled and pointed to the little body by the minibot's head.

"I suppose she just got so bored she fell asleep with your droning." Slingshot taunted but strangely, Powerglide didn't rise to the bait.

Instead his optics narrowed in the way that meant he was smiling and he brought his arm carefully up and around to hold the little organic closer. "She isn't sleeping."

"She isn't?" Slingshot asked.

Powerglide shook his head. "Nope. She's just telling me if I ever do that again without telling her I'm alright she'll rip me a new fuel intake."

Only Ratchet laughed while the others wondered at Powerglide's sanity at willfully being so close to such quirky, ruthless human with the ability to send anything mechanical into a fritz.


	6. Days Off

**Days Off**

**A/N**: Had the day off from work and after doing a boatload of errands that could only be done on a weekday I retreated to the inner sanctum of my tiny apartment. This would be result. I do want to mention that while this is taking on some sembalance of a plot please don't expect anything far too deep and introspective. Maybe later on I'll revise everything to fit into something a bit cohesive but for now I still like doing drabbles, quick one shots, and the occasional 'huh?!' pieces that makes a reader wonder how much sugar I injested. As such then, go and enjoy and thank you for all the review and favs on this!  
**Rating**: PG  
**Summary**: Powerglide was wondering why he had so many days off all of a sudden.  
_**Disclaimers**: Transformers is the property of Hasbro and any canon characters included in this work are not mine. This piece was made only for enjoyment, not for credit or monetary gain._

"No."

"Oh come on, it'll be fun."

"No."

"Please?"

"_Gah!_ No means no! I've gotta…"

"Do nothing. I know you have the next week off."

"How…?"

A smile was flashed his way, all sweet and innocent. "It's amazing just how nice some of your friends are, especially that red one with the nice smile; Sideswipe."

_I have to remember to push him into an incoming missile during the next battle with the Decepti-creeps._ "Did he say anything else?" Powerglide muttered. Currently he was sitting on a windowsill that had probably never been intended as a seat for a large mechanical alien. Fortunately it was holding up fairly well and it helped that he could fly so the thirty-two story drop meant nothing to him.

What did mean something to him at the moment was the fact that a small human femme was trying to exploit him. And he was letting her with barely a fight.

"Just that you would love it. But…"

"But what?"

"Well…you remember when those Decept-creeps kidnapped me?"

Powerglide a sound Astoria equated to a snort, his optics narrowing in memory. In hindsight he had to admit that it had been the worst/best day of his life. "How could I forget it?" It was hard to forget a day when his processor had been stalling every other earth-standardized hour because of the antics of one human femme. From that day that on he had become a common presence seen at Hybrid Technologies. One could sometimes see him patrolling the building if only to make sure that all was well before heading off again. Other times he would be walking through the main lobby (which was actually large enough for him to walk through the doors without too much trouble) as he waited for Astoria to finish a meeting before stealing her away for a day of flying. And then there were the other times when he was simply playing Russian roulette with a concrete windowsill, talking with Astoria over all the little details of the day.

Astoria smiled sheepishly at him. "Well, Harrison found out from some contacts that it wasn't _just_ the Decepticons; someone told them about Daddy's formula."

"Who did it?" Powerglide rumbled. Quickly Astoria moved to closer to his side, reaching up to take one of his fisted hands in both of her own. Her smile became spark-clenching gentle and had he been thinking clearly, Powerglide would have run. That smile was worse then when Ratchet successfully managed to corner the Dinobots for their annual checkup. As it was though, all Powerglide was thinking about was seeing just how easy a treacherous human could go 'splat'.

"It's alright Powerglide. Stop planning to maim him; Harrison's already on the job and he even asked Optimus Prime for some help. I think someone named…Prowl?" he nodded slowly and she brightened. "He's helping out in the investigation. But right now I don't need you to go out there with guns blazing and turn the jerk into a grease spot. But it is cute when you get all macho."

"Astoria..."

She stuck out a tongue at his tone of voice. "I know I know, don't say the 'c' word 'cause you're anything but."

"Right, and don't you forget it." Powerglide sighed and though Astoria couldn't see most of his face she knew he was obviously disappointed at not being able to find the traitor. A thought struck him with the force of a lightning bolt and he grinned behind his mask. He crouched down, slipping his head through the window entirely until his optics were level with his narrowed optics.

"I think I'm getting this now; you're going on some business gig and Prime wanted someone watching you just for safety's sake…" he said slyly and relished the way her smile finally seemed to lose a bit of its strength. Sensing her weakness he went in for the kill. "Astoria, why are you blushing?"

"I am not!" Her hands left his in a flurry and she tried to cover her flushed cheeks, glaring at him even as she did so. They both knew however that he wasn't too impressed by the look though she still tried to ignore how flustered he had gotten her.

"Yes you are! Your neck gets red and you can't even look me in the optic. You asked for _me_ specifically didn't you?" He couldn't help but feel smug; of course she had asked just for him, only he could stand her prolonged amounts of time. Besides, he would have annoyed Prowl into a glitch-fit if he hadn't been picked for this anyway.

"No. Optimus just said that you were the only one available."

"For someone in business you're a horrible liar."

Her organic nose wrinkled minutely in distaste at his statement as she continued to rub her cheeks. "I wasn't exactly thrilled with being tossed into the business world you know so you can't blame me for lying like some sleeze-ball. And if I admit that I did ask for you will you stop looking at me like the cat that ate the entire flock of canaries?"

"I knew it. You _did_ ask for me."

"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever. But I've got some meetings I had Harrison arrange with friends of my father so I also thought it would be nice to have a vacation."

Powerglide quirked an optic ridge. "Correct me if I'm wrong but how is escorting you around supposed to be a vacation? Unless that is you devised all of this up to runaway when Harrison's not looking. That isn't something I wouldn't put past you."

Again there was that damnable smile and he'd rip out his own optics before admitting to it, but she made his spark leap about like that with only a smile. Her tiny hands of flesh and blood reached out again so that fingertips grazed his mask. They were soft, warm, and the flesh had a springy give to it against his metal that was far from unpleasant. He didn't realize he had shuttered his optics until a soft voice made him open them to look her in the eyes.

"It'll be a vacation because you'll be with me Powerglide."

He was doomed. He knew it. And somewhere in the Matrix, Primus himself was laughing his aft off at the fact that one of the loosest Autobots had finally been caught by a tiny organic femme. The fact that she made entire mainframes inexplicably crash (except for his though Ratchet had yet to deduce the explanation despite extensive tests) was energon on the oil cake.

Admitting defeat wasn't always a bad thing though, it sometimes made life easier. "So...where exactly are we going then?"

* * *

"What's that?"

"Oh that? That's a replica of the plane flown by the Wright Brothers. Kind of flimsy isn't it?"

"No kidding. And look at the rocket, it's so primitive. How the heck did they even get it off the ground?"

"Lots of fuel and what they call 'dumb luck'."

"Ah."

"Look here, they've made a new exhibit about us."

"Really? Hand it over!"

"Hey Slingshot wait your turn!"

"Aww come on Fireflight, I wanna see!"

"Look at the others, there's a bunch of them." Silverbolt cut in before a two-way Aerialbot pile could occur, waving a hand to the pile of small pictures already on the table, compliments of Powerglide's trip in escorting Astoria around her nation's capital. As far as cities went it was quite pretty though with all of the political figures sizing them up Powerglide had been glad to get Astoria out of the city again. Had it been his idea he had would have left a day or so earlier but Astoria had been immersed in some heavy duty discussions not only with some large stockholders of the company but also with foreign dignitaries and a few senators to boot. She still had yet to give the reason for so many meetings and whenever he had asked her about it she had just given him a wink and smile.

Slingshot shot Fireflight a dirty look but didn't push it. "Fine." Grumbling at how unfair his life was, he skimmed through the pile before stopping at one, almost hidden from view. Looking up at Powerglide he grinned, watching as the red minibot regaled the others on the trip to the great capital city and the museums; complete with 'bot-sized doors. That fact alone was giving many ideas of traveling to the city and seeing some of the sights when next on leave. "Oh Powerglide…" Slingshot cut in, waving the photo pinched between his fingers.

Powerglide turned around, quirking an optic ridge as he did so. "Yeah?"

"Where was _this_ taken?" He flipped it around, showing everyone the picture in question. For a moment there was only the sound of mechs focusing on the tiny photograph though silence didn't last too long however.

"Hah! Nice going Powerglide!" Jazz said over the catcalls and whistles in the rec room while Slingshot's grin just got bigger and bigger.

Astoria had most likely given the camera to a passerby before she had tackled the unsuspecting Powerglide, somehow having made him topple into a wading pool and sitting on his chest with a smug grin in jeans and a red tee shirt. But what was the most interesting was the fact that he didn't have his mask, thus making his frown completely visible though it wasn't very threatening with his blushing optics.

"And here I thought the short circuit in the vocal synthesizer was bad. You really are pathetic." Sunstreaker sneered however it was ignored by Powerglide.

"Give. That. Back. Now." Powerglide snarled at Slingshot.

"I don't think so 'Glide. Blackmail this good only comes once a lifetime! I'm thinking high-grade for the next year. I never knew how bad you had it for that human."

"_Slingshot_…"

The Aerialbot was too lost in his teasing to take much notice of Powerglide's tone. "I mean come on, since when have you ever taken off that mask of yours? You won't even let Ratchet take it off and he's the medic." A quiver ran through Powerglide's body, his hands clenched tightly at his sides. Some of the others at the table quietly reached out to get energon cubes out of harm's way. "But I bet all she had to do was kiss you again and you were down for the count!" the lounge filled with laughter as Slingshot made the motions of an exaggerated kiss.

Finally Powerglide spoke—or rather bellowed—as he lunged for Slingshot's throat.

"I'm gonna rip out every one of your relays until not even Ratchet can figure out how to put you back together again!" Everyone would later claim that they had never seen Slingshot move that fast before with Powerglide hot on his thrusters, still bellowing about how painful Slingshot would be deactivated.

"Make sure to get some copies of that!" Sideswipe shouted after the Aerialbot. Sunstreaker smirked before holding up several thin black strips causing Sideswipe's grin to widen impossibly.

"Never mind, we've got the negatives!"


End file.
